Kemari Copeland shot to fame in 2024 after obliterating Virginia Tech’s squat record, lifting an astonishing 605 pounds—for 10 reps! And, while the Hokies’ defensive lineman’s powerful performance in the gym is building a solid foundation for football, he’s also working on the finer details, like working on his strategy and hitting the right bodyweight for Saturdays this season—and hopefully Sundays in the NFL.
M&F sat down with the exciting lineman to find out more about his love of lifting, and how he’s been using the off-season to ready for 2026 and beyond. And the way he describes it, it’s been a family affair.
With three football-playing brothers, and a father in the Navy, Copeland has never been short of a strong male presence to motivate him into action. Still, being part of a naval family has meant a lot of moving around for this young athlete who showed promise as a stellar defensive lineman back at Floyd E. Kellam High School. He began his college footballing career in 2022, for Army West Point, but would soon transfer to Iowa Western Community College in search of more minutes on the field.
“You need to have self-belief,” he tells M&F. “Because you don’t really know, when you’re hopping in the transfer portal, there’s so many unknowns. There’s kids that were getting dropped, kids that don’t find a home, so I kind of had to bet on myself and be like: I can prove to college scouts that I’m the player that I say I am, and that’s what I did, and luckily it worked out.”
One of the reasons that it all worked out is the fact that Copeland was able to resist the temptations of college life in favor of bettering himself as a player.
“The way my mom raised us, we were never really able to mess around, because we were in the military,” explains Copeland. Still, while life as a miliary family provided the young man with self-control, the constant moving around made it difficult to find friends. So, when Covid hit, he decided to use an even greater time of solitude to cement his relationship with the gym.
“They say that hard work pays off, so I went as hard as I could during Covid to try and get ahead of people, and that’s really where it took off,” confesses Copeland, explaining that he would repeat a push/pull split. “I’ve actually never told anyone about this, but I just searched a random workout routine, and Big Man on Campus (by Steve Cook) came up,” he shares. “It was kind of my escape. I just wanted to become the best football player I could be and I love working out, so it was the best of both worlds.”
Kemari Copeland Recalls his Record-Breaking Squats at Virginia Tech
Signing with Virginia Tech in 2023, Copeland had already helped Iowa Western to win the NJCAA Division I National Championship, and it didn’t take long for him to make an impact in the Hokies weightroom, repping a record-setting 10 squats at 605 pounds. “I knew I was going to be able to do it,” he reflects, noting that at just 19 years of age he’d already squatted a single rep of 675 pounds.” Still, Copeland recalls that he had to go to a “dark place” in his early 20s to nail his 605-pound, double-digit-rep feat. “I dang near passed out after, but I got it done,” he beams.
Copeland’s herculean strength is one thing, but he tells M&F that he’s now concentrating on form and technique, in order to develop further as a player. “After that squatting record, there’s no point maxing out and going higher in weight,” he notes. “As a football player, you only need to get so much stronger.”
Kamari Copeland is Digging into the Details Ahead of the 2026 Season
Aside from the traditional back squat, Copeland has also been practicing the front squat with straps at Virginia Tech. “So, our coaches want us to do a lot of movements based on trying to get a stronger power clean,” he explains. “Building on out explosive movements. So, front squats with straps work on the end of the movement of the power clean, where you have to get under it, squat, and stand up.” Copeland says the straps also help with those that have stiff shoulders or wrists, because the elbow is further away from the barbell.
In terms of fueling his ferocious activities on the defensive line, Copeland says that his nutritional priority is protein, and he tries to consume around a gram per pound of bodyweight, meaning that he eats around 280 to 300g of protein per day, mostly made up of whole foods like chicken, beans, and rice—topped up with shakes. The defensive tackle also takes vitamin D to bolster his bone density. This is critical, he says, because Copeland’s body takes a regular beating on the field. “I would say, as a D-lineman, we’re always bent over, and we’re always striking somebody. So in terms of what hurts the most, the next day, my fingers are jammed. You’re using your knees, ankles, and just constantly bumping heads with the other dudes.”
For recovery, the Hokies get regular massage treatment, and Copeland is a huge fan of hot saunas. “We’ll have a game Saturday, then Sunday we’ll have an off day, then Monday is our repair day,” explains the baller. Of course, the best way to deal with an injury is to prevent one in the first place. “If I don’t stretch beforehand, my lower back is gonna be real tight,” Copeland says. “I stretch my hips flexors, my glutes, my hamstrings, my quads, and I try to make sure that my whole lower body is loose.”
Copeland says that he uses the foam roller to build flexibility, and that having stayed consistent with his training, he’s excited for what’s to come in 2026. “I wanna know as much information as the offense does,” he shares, noting that he has been study film in order to build his strategic IQ. The Hokies Number #13 says that he’s also upping the cardio to trim around ten pounds off his frame.
In his limited downtime, Copeland continues his passion for making social media content. “Since I was like 8 or 9 years old, just making stupid little cringey videos,” he jokes. “I have a TikTok channel that I grew to 150,000 followers. I just love making content.” But right now, the upcoming season is taking priority, and then there’s the prospect of gaining interest from the NFL. “I’m trying to take it day by day,” shares Copeland. “I was projected to get drafted last year but I decided to come back and play my last year and raise my draft stock. I’m definitely going to do the NFL Draft next year, and hopefully it’s a high pick, so we’ll see.”
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